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Thanks!
And thanks to @Sandy for the lovely info on this great and beloved short story.
And here are the clues explained a little ... since we do not want to give away too much info about the story yet ...
row - has several meanings, here it means an argument or fight (pronounced like "cow" - it is British slang)
opera - Irene is a former opera singer
station - Charing Cross station is mentioned
calligraphy - some writing provides valuable information
portrait - pivotal to the story
I kind of felt stupid recently, because I was quite livid while flipping through my Wordsworth collection with Scarlet and Sign of Four when I saw no Paget illustrations, then I remembered that Paget didn't begin drawing the stories until Bohemia. Silly me. 8-}
Deerstalkers off to you, Sidney.
While I don't think Sidney ever gave a concrete answer as to who he used as reference to base Holmes upon, I like to think he used himself as a model for our favorite detective. He was a bit too handsome to be an identical real-life representation of all of Sherlock's features, but the similarities between both men are definitely there:
Yes, I think he would be quite proud of Benedict! :D
Well, I know one is that our dear Sir Arthur passed on this day in the year of 1930, but the other alludes me at this time. I will think on it, if it isn't already fully answered once I return. Cheers. :)
Hmmm. I'll go check some stories now for July 7th ...
Okay, I admit I cheated and just looked up the date online, found on a PBS website so I think it is accurate (looking thru the stories was proving very time consuming). So now I know. And it was something I did not remember, that's for sure.
But maybe I should let others guess, too ... ;)
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/sherlock/observation.html?utm_source=Tumblr&utm_medium=ThisDayHistory&utm_campaign=July%2B7%2BSherlock%2BGame
Hope I posted that link okay (I don't do that well ...)
OK I finished my first round, and I must say I did not do very well ... drat!
Other than that, other guesses:
*The date Sherlock returns home to Watson at 221B after the events of Reichenbach. *The date Sherlock retires
*Mycroft or Watson's birthdate
*The date that Moran was dishonorably discharged
*The date of the first publication of the Holmes stories in the Strand
Who knows...
I scored 56 points first time through and earned this response which I think is pretty average at best.
"DI Lestrade
In your years at Scotland Yard, you've seen it all. But you might not have observed everything. You are experienced enough to know when it's time to call in an expert — one who, despite his abuse, respects you as a colleague and possibly a friend"
Edit: scored 36 points on 2nd round. Got demoted to Mrs. Hudson level. :(
I'll quit while I'm ahead.
7th July was the day Doyle died but is also believed to be Watson's birthday.
And yes, @Sandy, I read that it was Watson's birthday - but I didn't check to find the originating source of that. Interesting, eh?
edit: Just played it again and did poorly. Still Lestrade, though.
I only now realized that every time you click it counts, not just the time running out. You only get 5 clicks. So a wrong click counts, then you are "out". Waaaaahh! Did see 3 new photos this time thru, so that's good. I think I've seen the lot now. Wish it wasn't quite so difficult.
Dr. John Watson (84 points)
Your medical and military training qualify you to do excellent legwork. You are keen enough to notice a severed head in the fridge, and your observations even, on rare occasions, garner a compliment from your flatmate and friend, Sherlock.
I have to say it's really difficult, a lot of fine detail. I only got full score in two of them and I'm usually good at this kind of thing! Might try again tomorrow to check if I improved or got worse ;)
Lestrade is my limit I'm afraid. I'm hesitant to play again in case I sink even further. :\">
EDIT: 92 but still Watson. I got some different sentences at the end of some figure this time. I'm becoming addicted.
Lunch break attempt:
That means you had a perfect score, and these were definitely not easy in the time frame given. There is probably no way I am scoring higher than Lestrade. And I am usually pretty darn good at these things, too.
And here you are truly proven to be: SHERLOCK!!! ^:)^
"Some call you a genius ..." - yes! A genius young research scientist on par with the intrepid Mr. Holmes.
And I just noticed: on your lunch break, no less!
maybe I will try again and see if I can beat my Mrs. Hudson score of 36 :-??
Edit: Ok, I scored another Lestrade 56. That is the limit of my mental concentration powers. My head nearly exploded as it was, just to get that result.
btw It is impossible to find more than 3 differences per display. The other two simply do not exist. I could stare at the screen for 24 hours straight, with breaks for food and water, and still not spot the other two discrepancies. So, seeing as it is impossible for Lestrades like myself to find the other two, a good strategy might be, that once one's powers of oberservation have been maxed out at 3, revert to a wild-guess click search for the other two, and if the time runs out, so be it, because it's going to run out anyway, and this way you can save yourself the brain aneurysm caused from futile intense concentration.
Concerning improving score, I think some of the photos are very difficult, others not that much. Notice differences in colour, position, size, and orientation, keep an eye on hair and accessories, as well as furniture and architecture. Some of the changes are very subtle.
With two mistakes you´re Watson... Life´s hard.
It´s a question of memory. Once you´ve seen the pictures, they reappear and you have just to remember where were the differences (although two or three of them were really difficult!)
Congratulations @ggl007. Everytime I tried the game I always got 1 or 2 new photos, but I didn't try that many times. I think it's also a question of luck, some photos are easier than others.
As for the Master's addiction, I'll just say that I think it shows for once that Dr. Watson was smarter than Holmes! And that will be fully discussed in another story ... :-\"
I'll be getting my review in this weekend, I hope on Saturday, for A Scandal in Bohemia. Although a dominatrix does not appear in the tale (I hope new readers to the story are not disappointed after watching the fabulous Irene in the BBC series!), it is still a charming and very good Holmes tale, and a unique one.
EDIT: Okay. Home from work, did this game for ages - my eyes are drying up from staring so hard. I did get Dr. Watson twice. But I am now relying on memory or where things were/were missing and a couple of wild guesses that were correct (in one of the correct guesses, I still cannot see it!). Plus my computer screen isn't perfect for this, I have to move the picture R and L sometimes to get the full view. Which all simply means that I am reliably Lestrade and Dr. Watson on a very good day indeed. Sherlock I am not.
But I knew that. And I guess I can live with it. ;)
Sandy July 12
A Scandal in Bohemia – Review (Warning: contains spoilers)
“To Sherlock Holmes she is always THE woman. I have seldom heard him mention her under any other name. In his eyes she eclipses and predominates the whole of her sex.”
It is with these memorable sentences that one of the most beloved Sherlock Holmes adventures, A Scandal in Bohemia, starts. This is a short story, one can read it in a heart beat, in a single breath, but it is one of the most memorable stories featuring our favourite detective and it presents, undoubtedly, one of the most iconic characters to grace the Holmesian canon: Irene Adler, THE Woman!
“Grit in a sensitive instrument, or a crack in one of his own high-power lenses, would not be more disturbing than a strong emotion in a nature such as his. An yet there was but one woman to him, and that woman was the late Irene Adler, of dubious and questionable memory.”
At the start of this story we find Dr. Watson recently married, absorbed by his newly-found conjugal happiness and settled as a civil physician. He has seen little of Holmes lately for those precise reasons. We are also presented with a description of Holmes' unusual habits “...alternating from week to week between cocaine and ambition, the drowsiness of the drug, and the fierce energy of his own keen nature.” It happens by chance that Watson passes through his former lodgings in Baker Street one night, spots his silhouette against the window, and finds himself wondering what his friend is up to. For the good doctor it was clear ,"He had risen out of his drug-created dreams and was hot upon the scent of some new problem.”, he can't resist and rings the bell. I could go on and on about those initial pages in this story but, alas, time is scarce as I write this review. It must be finished before my train reaches the fair city of Köln.
Holmes greets his friend with his usual manner, and tells him he has received a mysterious letter he might find interesting. It is here that Holmes gives us all a precious advice, one of the guidelines I have been following in my professional (and, why not, personal) life: “I have no data yet. It is a capital mistake to theorize before one has data. Insensibly one begins to twist facts to suit theories, instead of theories to suit facts.” Watson himself is able to deduce some things by merely looking at it (he's learned a few tricks) but Holmes knowns a lot more already. I cannot help but laugh every time I read how he concludes that the person who wrote it was German “It is the German who is so uncourteous to his verbs”. It is so true! Only a speaker of German will understand the brilliance of this sentence. Shortly after, the client arrives. Making a long story short (or at least trying) this is the king of Bohemia, who found himself in an uncomfortable situation. A few years before he had an affair with the adventuress Irene Adler, an American Opera singer of very disputable reputation. The king is to have his engagement with a daughter of the king of Scandinavia announced and Miss Adler threatens to make the affair public (and cause an end to the engagement) by showing a compromising photograph as a proof. The king has tried with little success to recover said photograph by several means with no success. This is a woman of superior intelligence and wit, no doubt, “... she has a soul of steel. She has the face of the most beautiful of women, and the mind of the most resolute of men”. Holmes takes the case (along with a generous payment) and promises to solve the problem by obtaining the photo.
“She is the daintiest thing under a bonnet on this planet.”
Holmes gets to know a great deal about this woman by taking the time to go to her street, observe and ask around. He comes back fascinated! Under the disguise of a groom out of work he finds all sorts of information and is involuntarily involved in an occurrence that changes everything: he serves as a witness in the marriage of Irene Adler to Godfrey Norton, a lawyer. Holmes cannot help but laugh out loud of the entire situation. The new Mrs. Norton (née Adler) thanks the poor groom (Holmes) by giving him a sovereign “... I mean to wear it on my watch-chain in memory of the occasion.”
Holmes has a plan and asks for Watson's assistance. She, he says, will show him the location of the photo herself. The plan is brilliant, you will have to read it for I will not go as far as explaining it, but disguised as a clergyman Holmes finds a way of being taken by Adler to her sitting room where, after a false fire alert, she makes a mistake of reaching for the place where she hides her most precious possession. But she realizes her mistake, she outsmarts Sherlock Holmes himself! When Watson and Holmes reach Baker Street they are greeted by a young man “Good-night, Mister Sherlock Holmes.” The next morning, the two are accompanied by the king himself to Adler's lodgings to recover the photo; however, the lady isn't there and has taken all of her things. She has fled during the night, took a train with her husband and left England never to return again. In the photo's hiding place she leaves a letter to “Sherlock Holmes Esq. To be left till called for”. There she explains her story, why she fled, how she discovered his plan, why she is taking the photo with her, and why the king mustn't be worried about her creating a scandal. She leaves a photograph of her in an evening gown as a souvenir to the king. She shows in that letter what an intelligent and modern woman she is, who wears masculine clothes frequently (the young man wishing Holmes goodnight was her) to take advantage of the freedom she enjoys by doing so. She is a match for Holmes, she is THE woman indeed. And when the king says “Is it not a pity that she was not on my level?” Holmes answers “From what I have seen of the lady she seems indeed to be on a very different level to your Majesty”, she is superior to him the reader understands. Finally the king is satisfied with the result and wishes to reward Holmes with an emerald ring he is carrying. Holmes, however, tells him he holds something he will value more highly: “This photograph”.
“And when he speaks of Irene Adler, or when he refers to her photograph, it is always under the honourable title of the woman.”
Holmes – He is brilliant but there is someone who shines brighter than him this time... and he knows it.
Watson – Now a married man, he still finds time to help Holmes. He is witty and dependable, typical Watson.
Villain – Who is the villain in this story? Irene Adler, who threatens the king? The king? No one. This is another morally ambiguous story.
Supporting characters – Irene Adler, such a short appearance but such a lasting impression. One of the best female characters ever written. Smart, beautiful, complex, original, modern, independent. What a queen she could have made! The king is much below her, as Holmes himself concludes.
Atmosphere – Not much to say about this one, but we do get a description of a quiet part of London not often depicted by Doyle.
Suspense – As Holmes' plan unrolls, we think how on earth he is going to pull it out... and he doesn't. There is also suspense in the very first part of the story, the first meeting with the king as well as the conversation between Holmes and Watson that precedes it.
Violence – Not much, other than a (fake) row that takes place outside of Irene Adler's house.
Humour – Not much to write home about, I'm afraid.
Cleverness – Very clever, Holmes, Watson and, most of all, Miss Adler have high quality brains.
Case – Seemingly easy, retrieve a photo, prevent a scandal from happening. This story is not about the case, it is about showing that Holmes is not infallible and that there is a beating heart somewhere inside of him.
Doyle – Managed to pick a simple story and surround it with little details. Along the way he gave literature a truly wonderful female character, so lacking even nowadays. I wonder the scandal it caused at the time: an independent woman, adventuress, smart, who even enjoys passing as a man. The way he avoided any possible clichés with this story is a testimony of how fine a writer he was.
Final verdict – just like the previous one this is another of my favourite Sherlock Holmes adventures. The characters are so fleshed out in the little descriptions we get. It doesn't shy away from showing Holmes' problems (drugs, sociopathy, bipolarity), but gives him a heart, albeit only vaguely. Irene Adler is memorable, and her impact reaches much beyond the story. She is so great that she has been used in almost every Sherlock Holmes incarnation. However, I think none of these extended Adler roles reaches the impact of the original. Even BBC Sherlock's Adler got her plan from someone else. Not the book Adler, this one has a mind of her own, and what a mind. Another absolutely mandatory reading for every one, one of the very best Doyle works.
*******
@Sandy, let me just say that I agree wholeheartedly - especially the way Irene is such a very different kind of woman for that era. I wish I could read some articles about what was said by the public after reading this story. She is so modern in many regards. I love her character. I thought it was great she did not hesitate to dress as a man to have some freedom (and with her theatrical/operatic background she was used to costumes). I think Sherlock was clearly drawn to her in a way that totally surprised him. I wonder if Doyle had met anyone like her ... or if he just knew that for Sherlock to "meet his match" so to speak it would be a great story, highly entertaining, and of course she had to be unattainable because he needed to stay himself, the bachelor consulting detective genius. I think Doyle was brilliant to write this, and especially coming as just the third story.
Wish I could have saved the screen showing it, but I don't know how.
All righty, off to brag to friends (ones who don't know how many countless attempts I have made at this game!). ;)